By CLARE FARNSWORTH, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, February 25, 2009

RENTON -- Tim Lewis knew he was treading on a potentially slippery slope.

After all, the former defensive coordinator for the New York Giants not only was the last hire on the staff of new Seahawks head coach Jim Mora, he was replacing Mora as the secondary coach.

The complexities of this convergence surfaced the first time Mora and Lewis got together to review video of the 2008 season, when the Seahawks ranked last in the NFL in pass defense.

"What's fun is to watch Tim try to maneuver around bad plays he sees on film from last year -- which there were many," Mora said of Lewis, who spent the past two seasons coaching the defensive backs with the Carolina Panthers.

While the trepidation was understandable, Mora just didn't have time for his new defensive assistants to tiptoe around the obvious -- from Lewis, to new coordinator Casey "Gus" Bradley, to new line coach Dan Quinn.

"I just told them, 'We're not going to be able to get to where we need to go if you guys have to walk on eggshells,' " Mora said. "I know what it was. Let's call it what it was and let's go on."

Once Mora unlocked the door of honesty, things really got rolling for a staff that now includes four coaches with the title of, or credentials to be, defensive coordinator -- Bradley, Lewis, Quinn and Mora.

"We spend about four hours every morning meeting on football," Mora said. "I wish that that time would not end. Those guys have to get to their draft stuff and their free agency stuff and the cut-ups (of video) for their players. But I look at the clock and say, 'Can't we just stay in here for a few more hours?'